VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Monday, October 13, 2025

View Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)View U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)Back to Home

Head-to-head

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) vs U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) adds News, Central Bank Watcher, Interest Rates, and Yield Curves coverage that U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) skips.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) includes APIs & SDKs, GDP, and Inflation Rates categories that Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) omits.

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) highlights: Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML., H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields., and H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m..

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is known for: Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP., Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts., and API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout)..

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)

federalreserve.gov

Hands-on review

The official website of the U.S. central bank. Through its Data Download Program (DDP), the Fed offers public access to many of its most important statistical releases in Excel, CSV, or XML formats. Key datasets include interest rates, the Fed balance sheet, commercial bank assets, foreign exchange rates, industrial production, and financial accounts. The site also hosts FOMC calendars, meeting minutes, press releases, speeches, and other policy materials.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.
Foreign exchange reference rates (H.10 weekly and G.5 monthly), with scheduled update times and public downloads.

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U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

bea.gov

Official U.S. macroeconomic statistics publisher (U.S. Dept. of Commerce). Offers free interactive tables (iTables) and a REST API with JSON/XML output for GDP, PCE/inflation, personal income/outlays, international transactions (ITA), international investment position (IIP), fixed assets, GDP by industry, and regional accounts. The API requires a 36‑character key and enforces throttling (100 requests/min or 100 MB/min; 429 with Retry‑After). A public release calendar is available (ICS/JSON).

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.
Release Schedule provides machine‑readable calendar feeds (ICS/JSON) and shows planned 8:30/10:00 a.m. release times.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, and Calendar.

Where they differ

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)

Distinct strengths include:

Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

Distinct strengths include:

APIs & SDKs

GDP

Inflation Rates

Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP.
Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts.
API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout).
Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)	U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, Calendar Unique: News, Central Bank Watcher, Interest Rates, Yield Curves	Shared: Data APIs, Calendar Unique: APIs & SDKs, GDP, Inflation Rates
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Bonds, Currencies, Other	Other
Experience levels Who each product is built for	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Platforms Where you can access the product	Web, API	Web, API
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free	Free
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML. H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields. H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m. H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads. Foreign exchange reference rates (H.10 weekly and G.5 monthly), with scheduled update times and public downloads. G.17 Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization, published monthly with full release schedules and data formats.	Unique Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP. Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts. API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout). Interactive Data Tables (iTables) for building custom tables; download as CSV, Excel, or PDF. Release Schedule provides machine‑readable calendar feeds (ICS/JSON) and shows planned 8:30/10:00 a.m. release times. Official open‑source SDKs/tools: R package (bea.R) and a Python helper (beaapi) on BEA’s GitHub.
Tested Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat	Yes	Not yet
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Standard listing	Standard listing

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, and Calendar workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) require subscriptions?

Both Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)?

Both Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) prioritize web or desktop access. Investors wanting a mobile-first workflow may need to rely on responsive web views.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) differentiates itself with Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML., H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields., and H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m., whereas U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) stands out for Free REST API with JSON or XML responses, plus meta‑data methods (dataset list, parameter list/values); browser use supported via CORS/JSONP., Official datasets: NIPA/GDP, NI underlying detail, personal income & outlays (incl. PCE price indexes), Fixed Assets, International Transactions (ITA), International Investment Position (IIP), GDP by Industry, and Regional accounts., and API key (36‑character UserID) with documented throttling: 100 requests/min OR 100 MB/min OR 30 errors/min; throttled requests return HTTP 429 with Retry‑After (~1‑hour timeout)..

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